Inset: Kishawn Porter (Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office). Background: Kishawn Porter appearing in an Arizona courtroom (AZ Family).
A 23-year-old boxer in Arizona allegedly pummeled his girlfriend’s 2-year-old son with his hands and possibly a sandal, leaving him with a lacerated stomach, torn intestinal blood vessels and other catastrophic injuries. Police say the child died as a result.
“According to the medical examiner, it takes a substantial amount of force to lacerate a stomach and the injuries … were all consistent with child abuse,” an arrest affidavit alleges about Kishawn Porter’s victim, who is identified in the document as his “girlfriend’s child.”
“Based on the injuries, no one could have survived the severity,” according to the affidavit, which was obtained by Law&Crime this week.
First responders were called to the family’s apartment in Mesa around 4 a.m. Tuesday after receiving a report of a child needing medical help. The boy was rushed to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
During the child’s autopsy, police say the medical examiner discovered rib fractures in different stages of healing. The boy had a lacerated liver, transected pancreas, lacerated stomach and internal bleeding that resulted in “500 ml of blood in the victim’s abdomen,” according to the affidavit.
Porter also allegedly battered another child in the home, a 1-year-old, by spanking and hitting him in the mouth, rib cage and midsection. Police say Porter’s knuckles showed signs of hitting both kids.
“There was obvious bruising to his knuckles,” the affidavit says.
A prosecutor with the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office told the court during Porter’s first appearance this week that Porter “hit and punched the 2-year-old victim multiple times with either hands and/or sandal,” according to AZ Family.
Porter’s relationship to the 1-year-old is not clear. He is charged with first-degree murder and child abuse. His bond was set at $1.5 million.
Prosecutors wrote in court documents that Porter would likely flee if released, citing factors including “the severity of the case and the fact that he appeared to avoid law enforcement contact and turned off his location sharing on social media” when police were looking for him.
